


You Can't Spell 'Couple' Without the 'Cop'

by FunnyWings



Series: Psych/Supernatural Crossover Series [8]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Based off a psych epsiode, F/F, F/M, Gen, Karaoke, M/M, cop!Charlie, cop!cas, fake psychic!Dean, part of a series, psych au, solving murders, spelling bee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 14:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12213036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FunnyWings/pseuds/FunnyWings
Summary: Since Michael Milton has taken over the SBPD from Jody, Dean and Sam Winchester have been officially banned from working with the police department and Officers Bradbury and Novak have been unofficially banned from doing anything at all. Luckily, things are looking up for our fearsome foursome when a spelling bee is ruined by a mysterious murder...Part of the Psych/Supernatural Crossover Series. I'd suggest reading the rest first, but if you want to start with this one, no one is stopping you.Based off of Psych Episode: Spellingg Bee





	You Can't Spell 'Couple' Without the 'Cop'

**Author's Note:**

> You thought I was never going to update this series, but you thought wrong! Mwahahahaha.
> 
> In all seriousness, if you're still reading thank you. Hope you enjoy this one.

Sam stared out at the crowd and deep stage fright made him swallow and his mind went blank. He cleared his throat and searched for a lifeline in the crowd and saw Dean giving him a thumb’s up.

“Can you repeat the word, please?” asked Sam, clearing his throat again.

“The word is: PARMESAN,” repeated the announcer, sounding a mixture of bored and unimpressed. Sam nodded to himself and took a deep breath before he slowly began to spell the word into the microphone.

“P… A… R…” Sam said slowly, remembering the letters back to himself in his head. Then he made the mistake of realizing once again that he was standing in the gym in front of most of his classmates, and some of his classmates parents, and several of his brother’s friends. His voice started to trail off as he kept on. “M… E… S…”

Sam stopped spelling as he tried to remember what came next. He looked out into the crowd and saw Dean mouthing something at him. After a moment Sam realized what letter it was and without thinking.

“I-“

A loud buzzer went off.

“I’m sorry, Sam Winchester, you’ve been eliminated,” said the judge before calling up the next person. Sam slumped down and walked back to his seat.

***Present Day***

“You didn’t,” said Eileen, glancing at Dean in mild horror.

“He did,” confirmed Sam, glaring in the same direction. Dean sat on the ground ignoring them both and playing with Houdini, one of the two new rabbits that Sam and Eileen had taken home from the pet store. Eileen was currently holding Bones, and she looked as though she never planned on letting go. “Like a complete jerk.”

“Who doesn’t know that parmesan isn’t spelled with an i?” asked Dean rolling his eyes and turning his attention back towards the TV where the national spelling bee was playing out on screen, with closed captioning helpfully turned on for Eileen to follow along. “Besides, Sam, you had stage fright. I just didn’t want to see you practice for months for the next competition and get all freaked out again. It’s a spelling bee, it doesn’t mean anything.”

“It means scholarships, prestige-“

“You went to Stanford on a full ride. I think you did fine. You know what winning the spelling bee does for you? It means being marked as a freak for your entire high school career. I took you to your first high school party after you lost that spelling bee. You had your first beer, and you were so excited-“

“I studied a month for-“

“Sam, move your head,” said Eileen, since Sam had sat up to argue with Dean. “I want to see if Harmony can spell this word right.”

On screen someone put up the word so that the audience at home could follow along with whether the word was being spelled right. Eileen grinned when Harmony spelled the word correctly, each letter lighting up green as she did so.

“Should I ask why you care?” Dean asked, signing as he spoke. Sam answered for Eileen.

“We picked which kids we thought would do best, and we have a points system to determine who picked the best team. Loser buys dinner.”

“Wow. You’re both nerds,” said Dean. He looks down at the bunny sitting on top of his legs placidly. “Your parents are nerds, Houdini.”

“Don’t talk to our bunnies like that,” said Eileen, who’d looked away from the screen to read Dean’s lips. She covered Bones’ ears with her hands. Dean and Sam both gave her a look. “Just because I can’t hear you doesn’t mean they can’t.”

She turned back to the television in time to see the next person, Trevor, collapse on stage. All three of them started and Dean demanded quickly that Sam rewind the show. Sam struggled to hit the right button on the remote but at last they got it working and Dean saw as the boy tried to use his inhaler, only to fall down moments later.

“What do you think?” asked Dean, looking at Sam and Eileen. “We got a case?”

“Yes,” said Eileen instantly. “Let’s look into it.”

“You’re supposed to be on bed rest,” said Sam. Eileen looked up at him with wide brown eyes that had Sam’s resolve weakening instantly. “Eileen.”

“Sam,” she said back. “I feel fine. And I’ll take it easy. Please, I’ve been stuck inside forever. It was just small stab wound. I’m better.”

Sam looked at Dean, who shrugged.

“She said she’s better,” he told Sam. Sam sighed.

“You have to promise you’ll take it easy,” he said. Eileen smiled as wide as her mouth could go and she kissed Sam on the cheek.

“Promise,” she said. Sam smiled back dopily at her, his face a little pink. “Should we get a rabbit sitter?”

It took a fraction of a second for Dean to think of the perfect person to look after their rabbits while they were helping him work the case.

“Sure, Sam,” said Dean. “Why don’t you call Dad and have him look after them. Actually, it’s no trouble, I’ll call him and tell him.”

Sam looked resigned and just let Dean do as he pleased. If he wanted to annoy their dad, that was his prerogative.

After Dean had made the call, the three of them decided to head down the police station and see if they could get any kind of legal standing to look into the spelling bee without having to convince someone to hire them. And the answer to that was a resounding…

************

“No,” said Michael, glaring at the Winchesters and the woman they had brought with them. “Just to be clear, when I told you that you no longer are in any way associated with the SBPD, did I stutter?”

“Well… no,” said Dean. “But c’mon! Someone’s trying to sabotage the National spelling bee. All of those kids are going to be going home in two days, and it’ll be a hell of a job tracking everyone down to figure out who did. Do you really want to deal with all of that paperwork, when we’ll solve it for free? As a trial run for helping solve future possible cases…”

“No. In case you were wondering, that’s Spanish for no,” said Michael. “Now, if you and your little friends don’t vacate the premises within the next fifteen minutes, I will come up with something to charge you with and see whether or not spending the day in a cell discourages you from coming back.”

“Okay, okay, we’re leaving,” said Dean. “You don’t have to be so cartoonishly evil about it. We already hate you.”

“Five minutes.”

Eileen and Sam practically yanked Dean out of the office at that point, because unlike him they had self preservation instincts. Or something like that. As Dean thought about it, getting locked up for being mouthy didn’t sound like a lot of fun. He should write the two of them a thank you card for making sure that didn’t happen.

After Michael’s office door closed behind them, Eileen signed something very rude about the Santa Barbara’s new Chief of Police that made Sam burst out laughing. The two got a little wrapped up smiling at each other as they walked toward the exit that they didn’t notice Dean ducking down and hiding behind various desks. By the time they did, they’d already left, and it was too late to go back in without being noticed. Eileen signed at him from the door what the hell he was doing. Dean sent a thumb’s up her way and then did a somersault before stopping in front of Cas’ desk.

“Psst,” he said, startling Cas so much the officer jumped about a foot in the air. “Hey babe.”

“Michael told you to leave,” said Cas, staring at his computer instead of looking down at the ground.

“Oh don’t be like that. Please tell me you’re not actually trying to suck up to him,” said Dean in vague horror. Cas gave up the charade, and turned to look down at where Dean was crouching on the floor.

“Do you want to know how many cases Charlie and I have been assigned since he got here?” asked Cas.

“Zero.”

“Zero,” Cas confirmed. “No cases. None.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s kind of hard not to know. You need more stress relief outlets than your job, running, and sex,” said Dean, causing Cas’ glare to intensify. “I’m just saying, you’re pent up and I’m only human.”

“You’re only a pain in my neck, you mean,” said Cas grumpily. “If I’m over too much for your comfort, all you have to do is say so. In the meantime, I’ll keep ‘sucking up’ to Milton, as you so elegantly put it, if it results in getting assigned to a damn case.”

“Well, you’re in luck. As it would happen, Sam and I found a case today involving a Spelling Bee, sabotage, and intrigue. It’s too bad Michael doesn’t think it’s worth looking into. Maybe you could work on that?”

“Have I mentioned Chief Milton despises me?” asked Castiel.

“Yeah, I didn’t need to be psychic to figure that one out.”

“I’m not putting in a good word for you to him. It won’t help and I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t fire me on the spot. Why don’t you just check out the spelling bee for yourself?”

“People tend to not like it when strange men show up asking questions and they don’t have badges,” said Dean. “Besides, it turns out tickets to the competition have been sold out for weeks. Apparently people get really into this kind of thing. Sam and Eileen made a whole fantasy league for it between the two of them.”

“Oh, how nice for them,” said Cas, actually sincerely because he and Eileen got on almost creepily well after meeting a grand total of two times for dinner at John Winchester’s house. Not including the time that Cas was trying to protect Eileen and Sam from Azazel and they all got kidnapped, which Dean had decided didn’t count. “Did you meet their new rabbits?”

“Yeah,” said Dean, goofy grin overtaking his face. “They’re cute. You should come over for dinner some time and see them.”

“Soon. But remember that we have to go to Hael’s baptism Friday afternoon-“

“Am I interrupting?” asked Michael coldly, looking over Castiel’s desk to where Dean was still crouched down. Dean stood up immediately, Michael’s eyes tracking him like a bird of prey. “Officer Novak?”

“I was just inviting my boyfriend over for dinner,” said Dean. “Considering I don’t work here anymore and all, I figure you don’t have a problem with that?”

Michael narrowed his eyes at Dean and looked about ready to give him a piece of his mind, before Alicia, whose desk was across the aisle from Cas’ spoke up.

“Dean really was just asking Cas over for dinner,” said Alicia nonchalantly. Three sets of eyes swiveled to her and she self consciously added in: “Sir.”

Michael was eerily silent for the space of five seconds before he sighed deeply.

“Fine,” he said. “Novak, please see to it that Winchester leaves. I’ll be in my office.”

Michael stalked back to his office and slammed the door behind him. Cas took a deep breath and then gave Dean a pointed look.

“For one thing, I am injured that you aren’t standing up for me against him,” said Dean. “And you are definitely making this up to me later.”

“Please don’t get me fired,” said Cas in lieu of falling to his knees and begging for forgiveness, which Dean really resented. He stuck his tongue out at Cas and was about to head out the door before he was flagged down by Alicia, who shot a look at Michael’s office before gesturing for Dean to come closer.

“Hey, I heard you saying something about the Spelling Bee and needing to get in?” said Alicia in a whisper. “My brother’s a reporter and he got stuck covering it. I texted him, and he said he’d be down to give you guys press passes so you could get in and ask questions.”

“Alicia, have I mentioned that you are my favorite officer of the Santa Barbara Police Department?” asked Dean, making Alicia roll her eyes in an exaggerated manner. “Seriously, I owe you one. When Chief Mikey gets canned and we get Jody back, remind me I owe you one.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” said Alicia cheerfully. Then she seemed to think of something. “Though if I could trade in a favor now…?”

“Go on,” said Dean dramatically, ignoring Cas hissing at him to leave so he could sit on top of Alicia’s desk. Alicia whispered quietly enough so Dean was the only one who could hear her. She also smartly covered her lips so anyone adept at lipreading wouldn’t know what she was saying. Eileen for sure, though Dean knew it was a skill some of the officers had tried to hone as well, and that was probably who Alicia was worried about come to think of it.

“Things have been super awkward since Jenna and Charlie went on that date. And as Jenna’s partner, I always have to hear about their little feud and I’m sick of it. Good news is, our newest officer has a little bit of a crush on Charlie.”

“Donna?”

“I think so,” said Alicia. “She’s gotten Charlie coffee the last two weeks. Every day.”

“Huh,” said Dean, considering it. “And you want me to play matchmaker?”

“I want Jenna and Charlie to stop acting like they’re in a bad soap opera,” said Alicia. “Don’t really care how it happens. I’m just making a suggestion.”

Dean shrugged.

“I’ll see what I can do. Alright, you get back to protecting the people of our city. I’ll go back to being the hero this city deserves, but not the one it needs right now,” said Dean before spinning off her desk and heading out the door where Sam and Eileen were waiting for him.

“What were you doing?” asked Sam. Dean ignored his pissiness and decided to give him a straightforward answer.

“I was just asking Cas if he could try to get our jobs back and the jury’s still out on that one,” said Dean, a little glumly. “However, I did invite him over for dinner at your guys’ place, so he could meet Houdini and Bones. How’s Dad dealing with that, by the by?”

“No angry text messages yet,” said Sam. Dean looked disappointed. “What did Alicia want?”

“She wants me to set up Charlie and Donna. Do you think that would work? Cause I could see it being a really good thing for Charlie if they click. I think it would help after the whole Dorothy fiasco.”

Sam ignored his question to exchange an exasperated glance with Eileen. Which in Dean’s personal opinion was super rude, considering he was standing right in front of them and could see exactly what they were doing.

“So you got nothing that’s actually relevant to the case we’re trying to solve.”

Oh, that.

“Right! She got us into the Spelling Bee,” said Dean. “Her brother’s a reporter and he said he’d get us in. The number she gave me is for one… Max Banes. Awesome.”

“You could have led with that,” Eileen pointed out. Dean frowned at her.

“We’re supposed to team up against Sam,” he said, pouting. “You’re not supposed to take his side. What kinda person throws their future brother in law under the bus like that? Don’t you care about being welcomed into the family?”

To which Eileen raised an unimpressed eyebrow, and you know what? Fair enough.

**********

Max Banes did better than just get them into the spelling bee. He’d passed over press passes to them and then let them know that he’d informed the parents in the spelling bee that they were there for personal interviews with each of the kids so that they would be able to write their different stories in the newspaper.

“I figure if someone is trying to sabotage the competition, that’ll cover up for the fact that I won’t publish anything like that,” said Max. “Alicia says you’re good at what you do.”

“Uh huh,” confirmed Dean. Max waited. “What?”

“Well… if I’m going to be putting my reputation on the line here…”

“You want a demonstration,” realized Dean. “Not really how it works. The spirits have to talk to me, and they don’t like to come around for party tricks.”

“Uh huh,” said Max skeptically. Dean sighed and closed his eyes and pointed his finger to his head, screwing up his face like he was focusing very hard. In his head he conjured up the images of talking to Max, and paid attention to the details. Max was wearing nice clothes, so he obviously cared about how he looked. Despite that, they were a bit crinkled, and Max had tried to straighten them as best as he could. Combine that with the self satisfied air about him and-

“Have fun last night?”

Max just grinned.

“Yes I did,” he said. And then: “Did you get a visual?”

“Okay, nope, don’t want to listen to that conversation,” interrupted Sam quickly. “Dean’s psychic, we’re here to get to the bottom of whatever happened, and we have to do it before the bee ends. So let’s start interviewing these kids.”

**********

While everyone else in police department had been assigned cases to pursue, some of whom had two or three they were already dealing with, Castiel and Charlie had once again been left to twiddle thumbs and do paperwork for Michael. Alfie and Donna had been assigned two interesting murder cases, and Alfie had barely spared a sympathetic look for Castiel before bounding off to do his job.

Castiel wasn't taking it well.

“I take back every word I ever said against Jody,” said Cas. Charlie had relocated to sitting next to him and pressing on nails with dragons on them onto her nails. Cas would tell her that they weren’t in dress code, but considering how little action they were going to be seeing, it was depressingly irrelevant.

“Yeah, well, I could have told you that,” said Charlie. “Jody’s awesome. I get you have your whole rules thing, but you maybe could’ve given her more of a break. This, my friend, is karma. Sheer karma.”

“What are you paying for?” asked Castiel. Charlie looked up thoughtfully.

“If I leave my clothes on the floor, Jo does laundry,” she confessed.

“That’s me,” Castiel corrected. “Wait, you’re doing that on purpose?”

“Well…”

“Charlie!”

“At least I’m not sucking up to Michael like my life depends on it!” said Charlie quickly, knowing it would distract Cas. She’d had to listen to him vent about Dean accusing him of the same thing for an hour, so she had a good idea it would be a sore spot.

“I want to work.”

“Join the club,” said Charlie dismissively. “But let’s get real. Michael Milton is going to have us riding the bench til the cows come home-“

“What?”

“Expression I picked up off of Donna,” said Charlie. “Not the point. The point is, we need to get rid of him. Not offer to do more paperwork, or work out a million times a day, or just sit here and hope Michael stops being pissed at you for doing stuff with his sister.”

“And how do you suggest doing that?” asked Castiel. Charlie opened her mouth. “Without using blackmail, or any other illegal means?”

Charlie closed her mouth.

“At some point, he’s going to realize he needs us in order to run this station, and then he’ll start giving us cases again.”

“Oh yeah. Waiting for things to happen. Is that your strategy in general right now?” asked Charlie.

Castiel frowned at her, lost now.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s just you spend almost every night at Dean’s,” said Charlie casually. “And I know because I live with you and Jo, and you are never around anymore.”

Castiel frowned.

“I don’t mean to make the two of you feel as though I’m ignoring-“

“Not what I’m saying,” said Charlie. “When are you going to have the moving in conversation with him?”

Castiel looked thrown, as though that hadn’t even occurred to him.

“Well, it’s much too soon to be talking about something like that-“

“You’ve been dating for months, and had your weird ‘angry sex’ thing before that,” pointed out Charlie. “I mean… You’ve been kind of a thing almost as long as Sam and his girlfriend. And last I checked, they were getting married soon.”

“I’ve already been married, Charlie,” said Cas. “In case you forgot, it didn’t end well.”

“And I’m not suggesting you deal with that can of worms right this second,” said Charlie. “But you’re practically living with Dean anyway. Shouldn’t more of your stuff be there, so you don’t have to pick it up from our apartment in the morning?”

“I stop by to pick you up anyway. It’s no extra trouble.”

“Again. Not the point,” said Charlie with a sigh. “How about this… start small. Ask for a side table, and a drawer. Is that small enough of a commitment to avoid setting anything off?”

“I don’t have commitment issues,” said Cas sullenly. “I just want to take things slow. And last I checked, you are in no way qualified to give me relationship advice considering you haven’t had a single longterm relationship with anyone since I’ve known you.”

Castiel regretted it almost as soon as he said it. Charlie’s eyes narrowed and the next second she spilled cold coffee over his lap and disappeared from view. Castiel was vaguely aware that Charlie had walked over to where Donna and Alfie were standing and was likely venting about his insensitivity. He sighed and started to clean up his thankfully black and therefore un-stainable pants.

“Novak,” said Michael, with perfect timing as always. Cas stared mournfully at his coffee soaked pants. “I have something for you and Bradbury.”

Castiel looked up warily. Michael set down another set of forms in front of him.

“Have that done by tonight will you?”

Castiel inwardly seethed.

“I’ll do my best,” said Castiel, already imagining a few minor typos he might include in Michael’s paperwork that if anyone bothered to read them carefully would be harmful to Michael’s reputation. Chief Milton smiled thinly at him and went back to his office.

Castiel sighed and started to work.

**********

Eileen ended up breaking off on her own to sit in the audience and observe the ongoing competition, along with the parents in order to see if she could determine if anyone might have motive or opportunity to sabotage the competition. Meanwhile, Dean and Sam sat backstage and interviewed every kid who had yet to be cut from the spelling bee.

“Channing just loves this stuff,” said one mother as her daughter ignored every question that was asked of her to study a book with winning words from previous years. “She studies it nonstop.”

“I can see that,” said Dean, looking at Channing as though she were a little green man from outer space. “So Channing-“

“I don’t know anything about the guy who collapsed,” said Channing in a monotone. “Mom, quiz me.”

“Narcolepsy.”

“N A R C O L E P S Y.”

“Good job dear.”

Dean dismissed them like he had the other parents. He thought briefly on Channing, who actually seemed to enjoy the whole spelling thing and decided he wasn’t as uncomfortable about her as he was with most of these kids. Almost everyone looked like they’d rather be anywhere else.

Case in point, was the next boy who walked into their interview. Cyrus Styne looked like he thought talking with a reporter about spelling bee was equivalent to literally being set on fire.

“Hello, Cyrus,” said Sam. “Do you know why we’re talking to everyone?”

“Uh, I heard you guys wanted to know about that guy who fainted?” asked Cyrus hesitantly.

“Cyrus would have nothing to do with that,” said Mr. Styne, clapping Cyrus’ shoulder and grabbing on perhaps a touch too tight. Dean felt himself bristle sympathetically for the poor kid.

“So what got you into this kind of thing, Cyrus?” asked Dean. “Was it for the ladies or so you had an excuse to go to future therapy?”

Cyrus looked taken aback for a second before trying to hide what must be the world’s tiniest smile. Dean’s heart ached for him.

“What did you just ask my son?” asked Mr. Styne coolly. “I’ll have you know that winning a competition like this can mean scholarships to any college of his choice. It could be the difference between Cyrus getting into the best schools or having to settle for a subpar education.”

“But no pressure,” said Dean sarcastically, staring down a livid Mr. Styne.

“We’re a family of winners Mr. Winchester,” said Mr. Styne coldly. “My youngest son is going to be no exception. And he won’t need to cheat to do it, especially against his inferior opponents.”

Dean caught the elder Styne’s glance towards the door that Channing and her mother had just gone out of and Cyrus’ wince at his father’s words. Dean gritted his teeth and dismissed the two of them, glad to be done with interviewing everyone who was up for the spelling bee.

“So he’s a racist and an asshole,” said Dean to Sam when Styne had left the room. “Good to know. I’m calling it, he did it.”

“You don’t know that,” said Sam. He paused and thought about it. “Racist?”

“Channing, he was talking about Channing,” Dean explained and Sam nodded in understanding before glaring after where Mr. Styne had disappeared. “As if I didn’t have enough to hate him for. He’s already forcing his son into this dumb competition to prove something to him.”

“Dean,” said Sam warningly. “Our dad is not like that guy. And I thought you two were doing better. Haven’t you been… I don’t know, bonding over fishing or something?”

“I guess,” said Dean with a sigh. “But you don’t get what it was like when I was kid. Dad never gave me a break. Ever. And honestly? That’s why I’m glad you lost your eighth grade spelling bee. You didn’t need everyone putting you under that kind of pressure.”

“You mean you wanted to be the one Mom and Dad paid attention to,” Sam muttered to himself, knowing that he said it loud enough that Dean could hear, but softly enough that he could pretend he hadn’t said anything if Dean gave him an out.

“You really think that?” asked Dean, blowing right over the opportunity to not talk about it, which surprised Sam more than it probably should. He wasn’t sure when Dean “allergic to feelings” Winchester had decided that communication was a good thing, though maybe it had something to do with having a steady job at the SBPD for the past year and a half and building up relationships there with people he genuinely wanted to keep in his life. “I was miserable when we were kids, Sam. Why the hell do you think I turned everything into a game? Dad never let me have any fun, and you’re lucky that he didn’t do the same thing to you.”

“Yeah, one thing I remember about being constantly in your shadow was how lucky I was,” said Sam. “I was valedictorian and I went to Stanford, and the only thing Dad had to say about that was a short ‘good job’ followed with griping about how you were wasting your potential.”

“Wow, he told you you did a good job? Must have been the first time in a while for him,” said Dean. “Because with all of that ‘awesome’ attention I got it’s so weird how I was told over and over again that I wasn’t good enough yet. I’m so sorry you never got to go through that. Truly the tragedy of our time.”

“You guys done with the interviews?” asked Max, walking into the room. He paused when he realized he’d interrupted an argument, then cleared his throat. “Should I come back?”

“Everything’s fine,” said Sam before Dean could say anything. God, since when was he the one that passive aggressively brought things up and then refused to talk about them? If he wasn’t careful, Dean might actually surpass him in maturity one of these days.

“Yeah, no worries,” said Dean. “Sam was just debating whether or not to get rid of his American Girl doll collection, and he wanted my opinion. I told him to do what makes him happy, but you know how fragile some people can be about their masculinity.”

Scratch that about maturity Sam thought to himself, giving Dean a look and then rolling his eyes and walking past an amused looking Max.

They all walked out to sit in the seats reserved for press. Eileen was watching the spelling bee on a streaming version of the spelling bee on an iPad so she could follow along with the words and closed captioning. Dean sat on one side of her next to Max and Sam sat on the other side and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

“Hi Sam,” said Eileen, casually smirking at him. Sam groaned.

“How bad am I losing?”

“I was thinking Greek food for tomorrow night,” Eileen said back with a smile.

“Cough, losers, cough,” said Dean, causing Sam to glare at him. Eileen saw Sam’s face and turned around with narrowed eyes. Dean gave her his best innocent look. I didn’t say anything, he signed to her.

Eileen flipped him the bird and went back to watching her iPad, carefully keeping track of the points and smiling when Sam started signing what was being said to her as best as he could so he could make up for any errors in the closed captioning. Dean, meanwhile started observing the crowd, trying to pick up on anything unusual.

It was about a few seconds later when Dean realized a word hadn’t been announced even though Channing was standing in front of the microphone. He looked up to where the spell master (the obnoxious name for the guy who picks words the kids have to spell) was supposed to be sitting just in time to see her fall over the balcony and land not five feet behind him.

At first there was dead silence. Then people started screaming.

**********

”Novak, do you want to let me know exactly why your boyfriend was at the scene of a murder after specifically telling me he wanted to be hired for a case involving the same spelling bee the murder occurred at?” asked Chief Michael Milton, after he, Charle and Cas had arrived. Dean had a feeling Michael had been overstretching everyone else to avoid giving them cases and the two of them were truly his only choice at the moment to investigate the murder.

“Yeah, I murdered the spell master to prove that an unrelated piece of sabotage was sabotage. That seems like the most obvious explanation,” said Dean. “Or it could just be that I told you something was wrong and you didn’t listen to me, so I tried to check it out for myself and lo and behold something was wrong.”

Michael looked unimpressed.

“I could cuff him and bring him in for questioning if you want,” said Cas to Michael, because Cas could be kind of a dick sometimes, especially when Dean was endangering his chances of ‘finally getting a damn case’.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Dean said with a lascivious wink, because Dean could be a dick when he felt like it too. Cas went completely red with either anger or embarrassment, and Dean just smiled. “Just as long as they’re fuzzy.”

“That’s more than enough, Winchester,” said Michael with a shudder. “Congratulations, the SBPD is officially looking into the case, and you’re officially prohibited from doing the same. Novak?”

“Yes?” said Castiel, looking up hopefully.

“I’m putting you and Bradbury on this case. Try not to embarrass yourselves, or me,” said Michael, talking as though every word pained him. “And if I learn that Winchester was involved in any way with the investigation, there will be hell to pay.”

Then Michael stormed off, ignoring Charlie’s fist pumping and Castiel’s wide grin of relief. The two glanced at each other and then at Dean. It took all of two seconds to tell what they were thinking.

“You’re kidding me,” said Dean. “I found this case. I am not backing off.”

“C’mon Dean!” said Charlie. “Just let us have this one.”

“Okay, Cas is a rule following snake—no offense babe,” said Dean, smoothing right past Cas’ offended expression. “But et tu Charlie?”

“Oh come on, you’re quoting Caesar’s last words? Don’t you think that’s a little dramatic?” said Charlie.

“I am not dramatic. And for your information, I wasn’t quoting Caesar, I was quoting the genie from Aladdin. So joke’s on you,” said Dean, not at all dramatically. “And when I solve this case, I’m not sharing any of the credit with you two. In fact I think I’m going to rub it in both of your unsupportive faces.”

“I don’t think you want me and Charlie as your enemies,” said Cas, tone dark and threatening. It was nice how he still thought he could pull that off.

“Well great, now I’m just turned on,” said Dean, stealing Cas’ thunder effortlessly. “Wanna go make out, or are you just being cruel?”

“Just… go away, Dean,” said Cas. “Try not to mess this up for us.”

“Fine,” said Dean. “I just hope you know that you’re both dead to me.”

He started to leave then turned around.

“But you’re still coming over tonight, right?” he asked Cas, and for a second Cas’ expression softened completely.

“Of course,” he said. Then his face fell back into its standard setting of ‘don’t fuck with me’. “Just know if I see you anywhere near my crime scene, I’ll handcuff you to a bench.”

“Yeah, love you too,” said Dean, hoping he’d distracted the two of them long enough for Eileen and Sam to have investigated thoroughly the room that Lindsay Atropos had spent her last moments in.

**********

“So,” said Charlie casually. “You’re at the ‘I love you’ phase, huh?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Cas, looking over the room another time before looking at the box of Chinese food on top of the late Atropos’ desk. “A mocking statement free from any real sentiment does not count as a declaration of love. It’s not the first time he’s said it, and he’s just doing it to be annoying.”

“So you haven’t said it back,” deduced Charlie. “Because you’re scared that he doesn’t mean it.”

Cas looked inside the carton and let out a long sigh.

“Damnit,” he muttered to himself.

“Aha, so you admit it!” said Charlie.

“No, I’m trying to actually work the case like a professional instead of poking at my partner’s love life,” said Cas. “Or at least I was. This food has shellfish in it. Atropos was famously allergic to shellfish.”

“Famously?” Charlie said with a raised eyebrow and doing her best not to look disappointed that she hadn’t made a breakthrough with Cas’ emotional issues.

“Sam assured me it was common knowledge last week when he was telling me about his excitement about the upcoming spelling bee,” confirmed Castiel.

“So you and Sam just hang out now? Like two human beings who actually enjoy each other’s company?”

“Yes, we’re very close,” said Cas, unable to hide a little bit of pride at that. Charlie rolled her eyes but let Cas have his new friendship without comment. “We actually have a lot in common.”

“Poor fashion sense?” asked Charlie. Cas opened his mouth to defend himself, Charlie steamrolled right over him. “Yes, I think all of your clothes are ugly, Cas. As for the case…?”

“Atropos went into anaphylactic shock and then fell. Case closed. Ergo my damnit.”

“Okay, that’s disappointing,” said Charlie sadly. “Is there any chance it was murder? I want to chase down bad guys, Cas.”

“Well, there is the question of why exactly she would order food she was allergic to,” said Cas. “But we aren’t telling anyone it was a murder until we have definitive proof and that could take-“

Charlie’s phone buzzed and she took it out.

“Oh shit,” she muttered. “Local psychic announces that the death of Atropos was a murder and promises to solve the case before the Bee is over. I have Dean on google alerts.”

Castiel very slowly let out a long breath.

“Remember you love him,” said Charlie helpfully. All she got in return for her help was a baleful glare. “Remember that Michael will definitely fire you if you murder someone.”

“I got away with it the first time,” Castiel said darkly. Charlie winced because she usually did her best not to remember that that particular skeleton existed in Castiel’s closet. He usually didn’t bring it up either, likely for the same reason. They both knew Azazel’s death weighed heavily on him. “I’m sorry, I’m just…”

“No, yeah. Me too,” said Charlie. “Upset, on edge, worried about Jody, worried about whether we’re going to have jobs tomorrow, worried about what Dean Winchester is going to do next.”

“That about sums it up,” said Cas with another sigh. They left the crime scene and made their way toward where they knew Michael was going to be waiting to shout their ears off about Dean. “Do you really think it’s weird that Dean hasn’t asked me to move in with him?”

Cas tried to make it conversational. Charlie latched on with a vengeance.

“I thought that wasn't any of my business and everything was fine, anyway,” she said smugly.

“It wasn’t your business and everything is fine,” said Cas. “But as my partner and best friend… I’m asking for advice. In the event that I don’t leave Dean for irritating me.”

“FYI, you’re not fooling anyone,” said Charlie. “But now that you’ve so kindly asked for my advice… yes it’s weird. Just bring it up to him. Be casual. Don’t tell him I told you to ask about it. Don’t be weird.”

“Okay, I can do that,” said Cas, way too confidently for Charlie’s liking.

“Oh god, I can already see you fucking it up,” said Charlie. “Instead of all of that, just ask if you can start leaving some clothes over at his place. Test out the waters. Think you can handle that?”

“I’m not an idiot, Charlie.”

**********

“I’m not an idiot, Dad,” complained Dean, sitting at the kitchen table with the plastic evidence bag of Chinese food that Eileen and Sam had retrieved from the crime scene for him.

“Then why are you playing this game with a Chief of Police that wants to make your life hell?” asked John. “First, you announce to the press that you think a case is a murder before the police make an official statement-“

“I had to. Sam and Eileen were pretty sure it was just an allergic reaction and I was explaining to them why they were wrong. It’s not my fault Max live tweeted me having my vision.”

“You do remember you don’t actually have visions, right?”

“Of course I remember,” said Dean, rolling his eyes. “But Max was there. I had to be convincing.”

“Well, even putting that aside you still shouldn’t be involved in this case,” said John. “Find something that you haven’t been specifically prohibited from investigating.”

“You have to know there’s no way I’m going to do that,” said Dean, barely even looking irritated. The lack of angry pushback had John pulling up short and looking at Dean suspiciously. “What?”

“You want something.”

“What? No. I’m just here so that Sam and Eileen can pick up Houdini and Bones,” said Dean innocently.

“Spot and Bones,” John corrected and Dean gritted his teeth at being told he was wrong out of hand like that and then reminded himself that he was actually here for a reason.

“No, Eileen changed Spot’s name to Houdini because he kept escaping his cage,” said Dean as patiently as he could manage. “You should have seen Sam’s face when she did that. I almost forgot about his magic phase when he was a kid and trying to impress girls, bless his misguided soul.”

“Don’t make fun of your brother.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen anytime soon,” said Dean. “Speaking of rabbits, how did Houdini not drive you crazy? Eileen and Sam lose him like two times a day.”

“I had to raise you and Sam. The rabbits weren’t much responsibility in comparison,” said John. “And don’t change the subject. What is it exactly that you want?”

“Honestly, I’m offended that you think I would come over here just because I want to ask for something-“

“Dean.”

“Okay, fine. I know you still have connections at the lab and I wanted you to get one of your friends to run a tox screen on these,” said Dean. “Atropos was allergic to shrimp, so she wouldn’t have ordered it for herself. Plus, the noodles were colder than the shrimp when Eileen and Sam brought it down. I think they were added after, which means if we can get into the security footage we might see something, but I need the results to prove it was poisoned.”

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

“I knew you would say- Wait, what?” asked Dean, thrown off guard. “Did you just say yes?”

“Yes,” said John. “What is that some kind of surprise that I would help my oldest son when he asks me for a favor?”

“What show have you been watching?” asked Dean. “You’re just going to do something for me, and not expect anything in return?”

“Well-“

“Oh, okay, there it is,” said Dean, back on solid ground. “What do you want?”

John crossed his arms gruffly and frowned at Dean, obviously trying to reign back his anger. Then he walked over to the other side of the kitchen and opened a drawer, before pulling up a ring on a chain. He walked back over and handed it to Dean.

“I thought since Sam got the car,” said John slowly. “You might want this. That was your grandmother Millie’s ring, and the ring I gave to your mother. I figured since things seem to be serious with that boy of yours…”

“It’s not… I mean yeah it’s serious, but it’s not like… serious serious” said Dean staring at the ring. “I’m not going to marry Cas.”

“If you love him, you shouldn’t wait,” said John seriously. Because apparently everything was super serious now, and since when had that happened? Dean hid his discomfort by lashing out against his dad as best as he knew how.

“Like you didn’t wait with mom? Because that ended super well,” said Dean. “Why can’t you let me do this at my own pace? Things are good with Cas. Stop trying to control me.”

“I just thought you might want it,” said John, arms crossed defensively. “And I’m not making you do anything. I couldn’t if I tried. But I want you to know at the very least that is high time you grew up and started taking your life more seriously. It’s not fair to the people you’re with, and that’s all I’m going to say about it.”

“Oh yeah. That’s all you have to say about it,” said Dean shaking his head with anger. “And you wonder why I didn’t talk to you for years. You want me to grow up? Maybe you should have let me be a kid in the first place. You want me to listen to your opinion? Maybe if you should have showed even the least bit of interest in the things I like.”

“What are you talking about? We go fishing every other week.”

“Yeah, which is your favorite thing to do. Do you remember what you said when I asked you to see Guardians of the Galaxy 2 with me and Sam?” asked Dean.

“Yeah, I told you what I always tell you. Superheroes are dangerous examples of vigilante justice that lead to dumbasses like you taking the law into their own hands,” said John.

“It’s a movie, Dad!”

“A movie that makes the true heroes, police officers and firemen and actual community members, look bad.”

“I’m pretty sure police brutality does a better job of making police officers look bad than superhero movies,” said Dean, knowing that would set off an entire new argument.

But before John could open his mouth and open that particular can of worms, Sam ran in with a bunny in his hand and a wary looking Eileen peering over his shoulder. She had Houdini, recognizable by the black spot over one eye, tucked under her arm.

“We should probably go work on that case we have to work on,” said Sam. “Now.”

“Yeah fine,” said Dean. “Congrats on not killing the rabbits, Dad. It’s literally the least you could have done. Hope you’re proud.”

John rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, ignoring both Dean and Sam as they left.

“Wait, did you think he was going to kill them?” asked Sam, abruptly horrified.

“Figure of speech, moron,” said Dean as they walked out. “You need to stop spending so much time with Cas. You’re almost as literal as he is now.”

“I am not,” said Sam petulantly. “And you’re the one who wanted us to be friends.”

“And I’ve lived to regret it,” said Dean.

“Whatever. I know you’re just trying to distract me from the fact you and Dad are fighting again,” said Sam. “What, you can’t be pleasant for two damn minutes with him?”

“You two yelled at each other for twelve years,” said Dean back. “I’m just playing catch up. Also, I think your lovely fiancee had something to say to you.”

Eileen, who had been walking beside them and tapping her leg impatiently nodded.

“I’ve been reviewing the stats while you fought with your father and Sam asked me thirteen times whether or not to go in after you and try to smooth things over,” said Eileen, easily calling them both out as though it were an afterthought. She put the bunny into its cage and took the bunny Sam was holding and also placed it down so that her hands were free to sign. “And everyone in the competition is performing as expected, except for Cyrus. He barely scraped in at his school, and almost got out on a relatively simple word compared to what he’s had to spell since. There was some buzz about him doing better than expected already, but I reviewed his tapes, and watched him spell and he doesn’t use body language associated with remembering. I think he might be cheating.”

“I called it,” Dean said before Sam could sign anything back to Eileen.

“You said it was his dad,” pointed out Sam.

“Well, yeah,” said Dean. “Who do you think talked him into cheating?”

“Either way,” Eileen broke in. “I need to go home to take my medication, and we’ll all be able to think more clearly in the morning.”

And just like that, every last shred of Sam’s attention was on Eileen.

“Are you in pain? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” said Sam, signing as he spoke.

“I’m fine, just a little sore,” said Eileen. “You don’t need to worry.”

“We’ve talked about this. Of course I’m going to worry.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to be here for this conversation,” said Dean, breaking into Eileen and Sam staring tragically at each other. “I’m just going to go. You guys have fun being all in love and weird.”

“I’m your ride,” Sam reminded him.

“I’d rather walk than be a third wheel,” said Dean. “See you suckers, tomorrow. Bring your crime solving shoes.”

Eileen looked at Sam when Dean had turned the corner.

“Yes, he thinks he’s funny,” said Sam. “I think it’s just easier at this point to let him keep thinking that.”

Eileen rolled her eyes and signed at Sam, asking if he wanted to go home. Sam nodded, and the two of them made their way towards the car, bunnies in tow.

***********

When Dean got back, he wasn’t surprised at all to see Cas in sweatpants and a t-shirt on his couch watching reality tv and looking pained. Dean knew him well enough to know he really wanted everything to work out for the people on screen, unlike most people who tuned in to get a dose of someone whose life was worse than theirs so they could feel good about themselves.

Not that Dean knew anything about that.

“Why do you watch it if it makes you so upset?” asked Dean, slamming the door shut and making Cas jump a little. “They literally put people like this on tv because they’re train wrecks.”

“You’re a train wreck,” said Cas grumpily. “And you’re lucky I’m even here after what you did today.”

“Would it make you feel better if I told you it wasn’t on purpose?” asked Dean.

“No,” said Cas.

“Okay, if we’re going to play it that way, I seem to remember one of us offered to arrest the other out of spite, and that it wasn’t me.”

“You made a comment about our sex life in front of my boss.”

“Okay but you set that one up for me,” pointed out Dean. “Besides, did you come over here to fight, or to ignore critically acclaimed shows on Netflix so we can make out?”

“I’m an excellent multitasker,” said Castiel, lying there lazily as Dean set down the food he’d picked up on the way home on the coffee table and pushed Cas’ legs off the couch so he could sit next to him. “Jody isn’t coming back Dean. I have to learn to live with Michael as my boss, and that means playing by his rules. You know how important my job is to me.”

“Yeah I know,” said Dean. “Just trust me when I say I’m working on getting Jody back.”

“How?”

Dean shook his head.

“It might not be one hundred percent legal-“

“I don’t want to know,” said Cas immediately.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured,” said Dean, changing the channel from people screaming at each other to some old horror movie that he was sure that Cas had seen. Jo was obsessed with weirdass horror films and had asked Dean on more than one occasion what it was like to kiss Tara Benchley, who she was also a huge fan of. That hadn’t been at all awkward with Cas standing right there, which was probably why Jo had asked since she still wasn’t one hundred percent sold on their relationship, though she had been more supportive recently according to Cas.

“This is nice,” Cas said out of nowhere, after they’d ended up just eating and Cas had rolled his eyes at Dean making fun of the cheesy special effects. Dean had ended up sprawled over more than his fair share of the couch and Cas had rolled his eyes at that too, but let it happen.

“Even though you’re still mad at me?”

“Yes,” said Cas. They stayed like that so long, Dean was almost on the verge of sleep. They hadn’t had a night like this in a while, just being around each other. Dean wasn’t kidding when he teased Cas about being something of a sex addict when he didn’t have cases to take the edge off, and it wasn’t like Dean was complaining about that. It was just nice to laze around and fall asleep, too. In a very different way of course. “Why haven’t you asked me to move in with you?”

The question was quiet, and Dean was half asleep so whatever limited filter he already had was pretty much shot.

“You don’t even keep a toothbrush here,” said Dean. “I practically had to beg you to even be with me, dude. It’s not like you’re that serious about me.”

“Evidence would suggest otherwise,” Castiel said, his voice sounding a little strained.

“I know you like me, Cas,” said Dean, keeping his eyes closed. “But you don’t want to, and honestly that’s kind of fucked up.”

“I love you,” Castiel said, obviously knowing full well this was not the right time to say something like that.

“Sure you do, babe,” said Dean sleepily, before starting to drift off. He’d probably regret falling asleep on the couch tomorrow, but right now he was warm and tired, and he really couldn’t be bothered to move. Cas didn’t say anything after that, so it didn’t take him long to fall asleep.

***********

“You were right,” said Castiel to Charlie the next morning, which was her first clue that something was off. Cas did not like to admit when he was wrong.

They were back at the spelling bee to redo interviews and see if there was anything they had missed. Since someone (read Dean) had told the press it was a murder, they would be nailed in the press if they didn’t keep looking into it, even if it turned out to be an allergic reaction like Cas was pretty sure it was.

“Of course I was,” said Charlie. “What was I right about again?”

“I think perhaps I’ve been taking Dean for granted,” said Castiel. “I told him I loved him and he didn’t believe me.”

“Wow, wait what?” said Charlie. “I thought you were going to play it cool. That is not playing it cool!”

“The only saving grace is I’m fairly certain he doesn’t remember,” continued Cas glumly, hardly paying attention to Charlie’s outburst. “He was almost asleep when I brought up moving in together. And he acted the same as usual this morning, so-”

Charlie felt like smacking herself in the forehead, but ultimately she just didn’t think she could pull it off. Instead she glared at Cas with all her might.

“Did you ignore everything I said yesterday?” Charlie demanded.

“You know I’m a direct person,” said Cas, not even bothering to look guilty. “And you annoyed me.”

“You know what? Whatever. How did doing things your way go again?” asked Charlie. Cas’ head hung down a little. “Yeah that’s what I thought. What kind of damage are we talking about here?”

“I asked why he hadn’t asked me to move in with him, and he implied it was because he didn’t think I really cared about him,” said Cas. “Or at the very least I didn’t want to care about him.”

“I told you that you have commitment issues.”

“I do not have commitment issues,” said Cas, eyes narrowing. “Things were easier with Meg. Why can’t Dean ever say what he’s thinking? How was I supposed to guess that I was upsetting him?”

“Because acting like you don’t actually care about someone you’re dating is upsetting to normal human beings,” said Charlie. “I get that you and Meg spoke the same language of weird, but Dean doesn’t. You have to like… communicate with him.”

“Do you remember the part where I said that I loved him and he didn’t believe me?” Castiel pointed out. “What am I supposed to do about that?”

“Look, I can barely handle your emotional baggage. It’s not my job to figure out Dean Winchester for you,” said Charlie. “Maybe talk to him when he isn’t half asleep? You could try growing a pair.”

“Point taken,” said Cas, with a roll of his eyes. “It looks like they’re about to start up again with the new spell master. We’ll wait until the end of the round and then interview the families again. Until then, keep eyes out for anyone suspicious.”

“Gotcha,” said Charlie, getting her business face back on as she and Cas took opposite ends of the room and started scanning the crowd. Charlie was very focused on this as the competition started back up again, until she heard a much too familiar voice over the intercom.

“Yes, the spell master. That’s me. Totally here, guys,” said the man. “So… first word.”

***********

After locking the new spell master in a closet, Dean and Sam had agreed that Eileen would be keeping lookout while they broke into the observation deck again to see if there was any reason Atropos might have been murdered. They’d made it up quickly enough and Dean had noticed indents in the carpet that Eileen and Sam had missed the first time they had looked around. Opening the side door revealed a bag with a telescope in it.

Dean had started to put it together when the radio in the room went off.

“Hey, Jeff, we’re waiting,” said the voice. Dean looked at Sam who had gone as wide eyed as he was. “Jeff? Do we need to send someone up there?”

What should I say? Dean signed at Sam. Sam shrugged and took the telescope from Dean to keep putting it together. Dean lunged for the audio controls. “Yes, the spell master. That’s me. Totally here, guys.”

Sam gave him a look.

“You can’t be the spell master,” he hissed. “You’re going to fuck up the competition for all these kids.”

“So… first word,” said Dean, ignoring Sam and getting into character. “Harmony, you’re word is… pie.”

“Dean!” Sam exclaimed the second after Dean had lifted his finger off the button that let everyone hear him.

“Dude be quiet. We don’t want to get caught. If you care so much, just give me the next word.”

“No way,” said Sam. “You made your bed.”

“C’mon man-“ Dean started.

“Definition please,” said Harmony.

Dean stared at her in amazement.

“A delicious pastry that everyone loves,” said Dean. Then he turned back to Sam. “You know all these nerdy words. Just tell me one or two for before we get out of-“

“Can you use it in a sentence please?” asked Harmony. Dean groaned and went back to hit the button on the sound system.

“Pie is more American than baseball, and no one will convince me otherwise.”

“P I E, pie,” said Harmony.

“You got it, kid,” said Dean. “Sam. Help.”

“Nope,” said Sam, having finished putting together the telescope.

“Now we have Cyrus up,” said one of the announcers.

“Cyrus, my man,” said Dean. “Think you could spell ‘cheater’ for me?”

“Seriously?” asked Sam with a groan. Cyrus had turned completely white and stuttered when he spoke into the microphone.

“C-c-could you use that in a sentence for me?” he asked.

“It’s better to be a loser than a cheater,” said Dean. Cyrus swallowed heavily, and looked around himself nervously. Then, abruptly, he straightened up and took the microphone.

“C H E A T E R, cheater,” he said. He looked like he wanted to be sick after he said it, but he sat down without confessing anything. Channing was up next and Dean had taken the telescope from Sam and lined it up to the indents in the carpet to get a clear view of a wall. He frowned and tried to remember the way it had been set up the day before and who exactly had been standing in that spot.

A face came to him, but not one he recognized. He frowned as he thought about who it might be.

“Excuse me, could I have my word please?” asked Channing from the stage. Dean shook himself from his thoughts.

“Channing. Sure thing,” said Dean. “Banana.”

Channing blinked.

“Banana?”

“Yep,” said Dean.

“Can I request a harder word please?”

“Honey, you can request all you like. The word you have to spell is still gonna be banana,” said Dean.

“You’re an ass,” said Sam, putting the telescope back where he’d found it. “Eileen texted. We don’t have much time.”

“B A N A N A, banana,” said Channing. And then as though she couldn’t help it. “You’re the worst spell master ever.”

“Banana has three ns. Pack up your stuff and leave,” Dean said into the microphone. Channing’s mouth dropped open. “I’m kidding, Jesus. You got it right. Who’s next?”

*********

“I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life. That was not me. I got locked in a closet by a bunch of hooligans and then some-“ said Jeff as he passed by Dean and Sam who were sneaking out of the room.

They managed to get past security and back down to Eileen, who was fielding both Charlie and Cas. They strolled up to the two officers, both of whom looked pissed.

“What the hell was that?” demanded Charlie. “Do you want to look like you murdered this chick?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Dean. “I was in the bathroom.”

“I was also in the bathroom,” said Sam.

“They were both in the bathroom,” finished Eileen. “I was waiting for them to get out and that’s why I was standing here.”

“You three are ridiculous,” said Cas.

“What, is using the bathroom illegal now?” asked Dean. “What is this country coming to? Everyone should be able to use the bathroom.”

“And the gender bathroom they feel comfortable using,” added Charlie. Cas looked at her. “What?”

“Is that relevant right now, Charlie?” Cas asked.

“Just seemed worth saying,” Charlie said. Cas sighed and gestured towards her. "But regardless, you two were not in the bathroom!"

“It sounds like you both have a lot of circumstantial evidence that wouldn’t hold up in court,” said Sam. “So… back to our separate jobs. Look! There’s Max. We should go now.”

Sam, Eileen, and Dean maneuvered around the frustrated officers in order to meet Max, who was looking at the three of them, amused.

“That was you guys, wasn’t it?” he asked, eyes twinkling. “This is the best puff piece I’ve ever been assigned.”

“Glad we can help,” said Dean. “I think I’ve got the case mostly solved. I just need to figure out one more thing. Think you can get the organizers to call a quick break?”

Max nodded.

“I think I can swing that,” said Max. “You owe me a drink later, though.”

“Sure thing,” said Dean, already distracted and thinking up exactly how he was going to figure out who was helping Cyrus cheat. “We’ll be back in an hour. Try to stall as long as you can.”

Dean left Sam and Eileen to keep an eye on things, and look out for a man with the description of the guy Dean remembered being in the place that Atropos had been looking at. He told them if they saw him to engage in light conversation and nothing else. If Dean was right, this mysterious man was likely the murderer, and he didn’t want to put Eileen and Sam in danger.

The next piece of the puzzle he had needed time for was to figure exactly what had been in those noodles, and for that he needed to visit his dad and hope he’d gone through with the tox screen, fight with Dean or no. It wasn’t exactly a conversation that Dean was looking forward to.

Once he arrived at John Winchester’s house, Dean took a moment to collect himself, take a deep breath and remind himself that he needed to be calm. He knew part of the reason he was so pissed at the moment was because the spelling bee and all the damn helicopter parents he was seeing was dredging up bad memories and it was hard to remember the progress he and his dad had made when it was so easy to remember every day of being told what to do and who to be.

“Hey Dad,” said Dean as he walked in the door. John Winchester looked up from his newspaper for a moment, tossed Dean an envelope and then went back to reading. “You aren’t even going to say hi to me?”

“Every time I talk, you seem to find something to object to,” said John. Dean felt his hand tighten a little around the envelope.

“Fine. Thanks for the favor. I’ll just be going now, then,” said Dean, turning on his heel and about to march out. A loud sigh sounded behind him.

“Wait,” said John. Dean stopped and looked around. “I’m still angry at you. I’m trying to reach out, and most of the time it feels like pulling teeth to get even a fraction of the effort I’m putting in back.”

“You’re the one who wants to fix it,” said Dean. “I was fine without you in my life. I was better, because I’m actually starting to get a chance to see who I am, what I want-“

“I know,” John interrupted. Dean fell silent. “It’s mine to fix. And maybe I overstepped some boundaries yesterday. I just… I’m not going to be around forever, Dean. And I don’t want to die with you hating me. Maybe I don’t deserve your forgiveness. But I won’t stop asking for it.”

“You think if I could just snap my fingers and forget everything you put me through, I wouldn’t?” asked Dean. “I don’t like who you made me. I don’t like the fact that I’m fucking terrified that Cas is going to leave me the way mom left you. The way Cassie left me because you made me so fucking miserable-“

“I’m sorry, Dean,” said John simply. “I don’t know any other way to say it.”

Dean felt all the fight go out of him, and he wasn’t sure what he was feeling in the moment. Relief, maybe? Closure?

“You’ve never said you were sorry before,” said Dean. “Not once. So I guess that’s a start.”

“That’s all I’m asking,” said John. There was a moment of silence and then John cleared his throat and nodded toward the envelope. “The tox screen showed something was added to the noodles to simulate an allergic reaction. You were right about it being a homicide.”

“Ha, I knew it!” said Dean, ripping open the envelope and reading the results for himself. “Thanks for the favor.”

“No problem,” said John. “Go solve your case. Don’t fuck it up.”

Dean rolled his eyes and was about to leave again before the whole part of his dad’s speech about ‘making an effort’ came back to him and he turned around.

“A bunch of the officers are going to be at Tommy’s later, you know the bar Benny owns?” said Dean. “Alfie’s having a baptism today for his daughter, and we were going to go out and celebrate after. I’m sure they’d appreciate it if an old legend showed up. And I wouldn’t throw a fit if you were there.”

John smiled.

“Isn’t it karaoke night?”

“I was so hoping you wouldn’t ask that,” said Dean, smiling ruefully. “Yeah, it is.”

“Over my dead body, then,” said John. He thought for a moment. “Though if I had to… Father and Son by Cat Stevens isn’t a terrible song.”

Wait a fucking second.

“Did you go and see Guardians of the Galaxy?” asked Dean. John didn’t say a word. “But you think superheroes are a symptom of the downfall of society.”

“It wasn’t the worst movie ever,” said John. “Don’t you have a case to solve?”

“You did,” said Dean. “And you liked it.”

“I already said that. Shouldn’t you be going?” said John even more gruffly now. Dean grinned to himself.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m leaving,” said Dean. “But, uh, Dad?”

“Yes?” asked John wearily, clearly expecting to be made fun of more for actually enjoying a superhero movie.

“I actually… If you still wanted to give me grandma’s ring…” Dean trailed off. A sudden bright smile lit up John’s face, and the ring was in Dean’s hands before he could get another word in edgewise. “I’m not asking Cas to marry me, I just figured, you know, in case of an emergency-“

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me, kid,” said John. “He’s a good man.”

“Uh yeah,” said Dean, tucking the ring into his pocket. “He is.”

**********

Max had done his best to stop the spelling bee from going on, but eventually they had had to continue. He was sat next to Sam and Eileen watching as Channing and Cyrus battled it out for the win. Sam had filled him in on the guy they were looking for, who it had turned out was Cyrus’ older brother, Roscoe. Cyrus was the youngest of several Styne brothers, and Roscoe was the next youngest, and still a good ten years older than him. Eileen and Sam had dutifully texted to Dean what they’d gotten out of him in each of their casual conversations with Roscoe.

“When is your brother getting here?” Max asked Sam. Sam looked down at his phone.

“He isn’t texting back, which means he’s probably driving,” said Sam. “So that’s probably good?”

Max turned back to watch as word after word was thrown at Cyrus and Channing. Channing was up again and got her word right, and then it was Cyrus’ turn. Just as he was about to start spelling, the door at the back of the room banged open.

“Wait!” shouted Dean Winchester. “Stop the competition!”

Dean ran up to the stage, dodging security. One of the security guards tried to follow him up on stage only to be stopped by Castiel the next second.

“SBPD,” said Cas. “Let him be.”

The security guard nodded and left Dean to his own devices. Dean nodded gratefully at Cas and then went into dramatic ‘revealing the murderer’ mode. He pressed a hand to his forehead and began to shake, slowly but surely pointing his finger at Cyrus, who was pale and shaking.

“You,” said Dean. “The spirits are pointing to you. Cyrus, kid, come clean.”

“I-“ Cyrus started, eyes darting out to the crowd and no doubt finding his dad. “I just-“

“You needed to win at something,” said Dean for him. “No matter what it took. You weren’t sure what your dad would do to you if you didn’t.”

Cyrus stared down at his feet, and despite everything Dean couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

“Because he wasn’t very forgiving of failure,” said Dean. “If you’re kid can’t do it by themselves, maybe you can beat it into them.”

The expression Cyrus made after that was enough for Dean to know he was going to be calling child services after this shit was over, because that was not the face of a kid who hadn’t been hit at some point in his life. Dean had suspected as much when he’d looked into Roscoe after getting his name from Eileen and Sam and found a series of mysterious hospitalizations for the older Styne brother.

“So you cheated,” said Dean. “You were convinced to by your older brother, Roscoe. He isn’t the brightest bulb, but he didn’t want you to get hurt. Too bad he murdered an innocent woman to make sure that didn't happen.”

If Cyrus could melt into the floor, he probably would have. Roscoe made a run for it in the crowd, only to be taken down and handcuffed by Charlie and Eileen, who had blocked his exit to the door and tripped him before blending seamlessly back into the confused crowd.

“I- I-“ said Cyrus. “I didn’t know he would-“

“Murder Apropos because she caught on that you were cheating?” asked Dean. “Roscoe must have realized that she was using a telescope to see that he was sending the letters to you through the inhaler you’re holding. The same inhaler that accidentally got swapped and nearly caused another death by asthma attack earlier in the competition. Atropos was famously allergic to shrimp, so Roscoe made sure that it looked like an accident. If I had to guess, not his first murder. Atropos was going to reveal you both, and he killed her so you could keep cheating. Which you did.”

Cyrus looked back at Channing, who was watching everything with wide eyed surprise.

“There’s still time to do one right thing,” said Dean to him. “Do you understand me, Cyrus?”

Cyrus nodded slowly and cleared his throat.

“I cheated,” said Cyrus. “I’m sorry Channing.”

Channing pushed up her glasses and nodded at him, looking more scared than forgiving. Cyrus was led off the stage by one of the organizers, and Channing was given a ginormous check for having won. She was then ushered off the other side of the stage as quickly as they could manage.

Castiel stopped Mr. Styne from charging onto stage after his son, and cuffed him for assaulting an officer of the law when Mr. Styne tried to hit him. The two Stynes that had been arrested were led out of the auditorium by Officers Novak and Bradbury, and everyone else sat in awkward and shocked silence. Dean slipped off the stage and walked back through the crowd to where Max and Eileen and Sam were sitting.

“What do you think is going to happen to him?” asked Sam, looking over to where Cyrus had disappeared. “You really think his dad-“

“Yeah,” said Dean. “I took a look through Roscoe’s medical files. His fingers were broken a lot. Doesn’t take a psychic to take a guess what that meant. I’m going to guess Cyrus hasn’t had it easy either. Any luck and that fucker of a father will end up in jail along with Roscoe.”

“And Cyrus?” asked Sam.

“I don’t know,” said Dean. “He’s just a kid. He didn’t need that shit pushed on him.”

“Yeah,” agreed Sam. “He didn’t.”

“This is just shitty all the way around,” said Dean. “I hope… I hope someone gets Cyrus help, cause he’s going to need it. Otherwise he’s going to end up like Roscoe someday.”

Dean shook his head, obviously trying to shake himself of thoughts of the Styne family. They weren’t something he could help.

“Out of our hands now, I guess,” said Dean, firmly deciding to focus his mind on more positive things. “Hael’s getting baptized in an hour, and Cas isn’t even close to being there. Alfie’s going to be freaking out.”

**********

Alfie was freaking out, and Cas’ tie was backwards.

“Come here, dumbass,” said Dean, before fixing it for him. “Who the hell taught you how to dress up?”

“Ellen Harvelle and Bobby Singer,” said Castiel. “God doesn’t care how you look.”

“How do you know, have you asked him?” muttered Dean. “Alfie cares, so stay still. Why did you take so long getting here anyway?”

“I was giving an interview,” said Cas. “Max Banes wanted an official statement from the SBPD. I obliged.”

“Oh yeah,” said Dean, redoing Cas’ coat buttons up and smoothing down his hair, ignoring Cas’ attempts to bat his hands away. “What’d you say?”

“Just that we at the SBPD appreciate the opportunity to work with the psychic Dean Winchester, and that losing him would be a great loss to the department and decrease our efficiency in solving crimes,” said Cas. “Or something to that effect.”

Dean stopped messing with Cas’ hair and stared at him.

“Aren’t you going to get in trouble for that?” he asked.

“Probably,” said Cas. “Almost definitely.”

“So you did it because…?”

“Because Michael can kiss my ass,” said Castiel. “And it’s the truth. You deserve recognition for the work you’re doing.”

“Cas, you’re a fucking idiot,” said Dean shaking his head. “Michael’s going to fire you.”

“I don’t think that wouldn’t look very good, especially since we just solved a case that is getting the SBPD some decent press at long last,” said Cas with a shifty smile. “In fact, I’m fairly certain I just guaranteed that in many future press releases, reporters are going to ask if you’ve been assigned to a case. Which means Michael is going to feel pressured for publicity’s sake to hire you back. It would be in everyone’s best interests, really. He wouldn’t want it to look like he was purposefully ignoring one of his assets.”

Dean thought about it for a second. After a second he realized just how Cas might word his statement to trap Michael into doing just what he wanted.

“You’re one sneaky son of a bitch,” said Dean, a little bit in awe. He saw over Cas’ shoulder that Alfie had poked his head into the room and was looking panicked. Hannah did the same, and she only looked a touch more relaxed. The only calm human being was the peacefully sleeping Hael in Hannah’s arms. “Cas, showtime. Go get your godfather on.”

“Right,” said Cas, instantly nervous. “Well… I should go.”

Dean rolled his eyes and pressed a peck to Cas’ lips.

“You’ll be fine,” he said. Cas nodded gratefully.

“I love you,” he said quickly before he left with Alfie and Hannah. He was long gone before Dean got over hearing that.

“Uh, same,” he said to no one. Luckily. He wondered how he hadn’t realized just how far in over his head he was.

**********

After the baptism, in which both Alfie and Castiel teared up, because Cas was a huge sap at heart even if he pretended he wasn’t, Hael was handed over to a baby sitter and Alfie, Hannah, and their friends all accompanied them to Tommy’s (which Dean had helpfully recommended). There, everyone had quickly gotten very drunk and very into karaoke.

Jenna and Charlie seemed to have made up for the night, or were at least tolerating each other’s presences as they sang “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” with Alicia, Hannah, and Donna. Dean couldn’t help but notice that Charlie had slung one of her arms around Donna’s shoulders and the two were sharing a microphone. He wondered if maybe that was a relationship that didn’t need as much help as Alicia seemed to think.

Dean on the other hand was buying the drink he had promised to Max earlier, since he’d ended up asking Alicia to invite her brother to join in on the drunk karaoke singing, since he’d been such a big help on the case. Max gratefully accepted and started talking about what he’d ended up typing about the spelling bee.

“Yeah, it was a much more exciting article than I thought I was going to write,” said Max to Dean. “I devoted an entire paragraph to the handsome psychic that saved the day.”

He looked Dean up and down, and Dean could feel himself blushing. Suddenly it occurred to him just what ‘buying a drink’ might be signify.

“I, uh, I’m flattered,” he said quickly. “And if you’d asked me a year ago, I would totally be down for- But see the thing is I’m kinda spoken for.”

Dean nodded towards where Castiel was standing next to Alfie and cheering on the girls as they sang. Max’s eyes flicked to Cas and back. He let out a little sigh.

“Now that just isn’t fair,” he muttered to himself. “But good on you man. He’s good looking.”

“Yeah, he is, isn’t he?” said Dean, turning to look at Cas appreciatively.

“Like really good looking.”

“Hey, don’t objectify my boyfriend. That’s my job,” said Dean, trying to sound casual and falling just a little bit to the left of what he was aiming for in tone. Max snickered at the fact Dean’s voice had gone a bit high pitched. Dean desperately searched for a way to salvage his image. “But if you’re looking… Benny’s getting over a long relationship mourning period for an ex who tried to burn her own house down and frame him, so he’s just starting looking again. Y’know due to the whole not trusting anyone thing.”

“Who’s that?” asked Max, hesitantly interested.

“Bartender. Funny accent. Don’t tell him I said that,” said Dean, nodding toward the bar. “His cousin Lizzie tried to get me to ask him out a while back. She put forward a very convincing case. Apparently he makes breakfast in the morning, even after casual hookups.”

“And you weren’t interested?” asked Max skeptically.

“Nah, Benny’s just a friend,” said Dean. “Also, this is my favorite bar. You don’t screw around where you eat. Plus, me and Cas were kinda doing… stuff. At the time.”

“Stuff?” Max teased.

“Yeah stuff,” said Dean. “Whatever. So that’s Benny right there talking to your sister.”

Max turned around to see Benny trying to convince Hannah, Charlie, Donna, Jenna, and Alicia that no, they couldn’t commandeer the karaoke machine for official police business to sing YMCA after already singing Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. At least that’s what Dean understood of the conversation through the microphones that were broadcasting a muffled version of it.

“Wait, that’s him? Damn. You’re a saint, Dean Winchester,” said Max, smoothing out his clothes and taking out his wallet for money to buy another drink. “Wish me luck. I don’t need it, but wish me luck anyway.”

“Go get him,” said Dean with a slap to Max’s shoulder. He watched as Max went up and struck up a flirty conversation with Benny. The fact that Benny didn’t immediately shut him down or roll his eyes was a good sign in Max’s favor. Dean decided to leave Max to it and get back to things that were his business. Like making Cas loosen up and sing karaoke with him, drunk and off key like God intended.

************

Sam and Eileen arrived just in time to witness a rousing performance of “Karma Chameleon” (which Cas had abandoned his no drinking rule and downed three shots before agreeing to go up on stage with Dean). They'd been having dinner at the Greek restaurant Eileen had chosen and Sam had paid for after Eileen had tallied up the points and revealed that she had won by a large margin.

Benny was missing from behind the bar, which was odd for karaoke night, but Sam didn’t give it much thought, just held up two fingers at Lizzie so she would bring him and Eileen beers. They sat and talked for a while, until Dean and Cas came over and the three of them fell into a conversation about obscure police codes which Sam could have participated in, but honestly found kind of boring.

He excused himself when the conversation became more and more theoretical and Dean started trying to figure out loopholes in various ordinances for Eileen and Cas’ amusement, partly because Sam had heard a lot of these particular loopholes before. He stopped to press a kiss to Eileen’s cheek before signing to her that he was going to go and get another drink.

While he was at the bar he saw Alicia talking to Lizzie and then rolling her eyes at whatever was said. Sam waited for his drink and then struck up a conversation.

“Everything okay?”

“Oh yeah,” said Alicia, smiling in a way that was both annoyed and resigned. “I invited Max tonight, and he ended up hitting on the bartender and then ditching me, so you know.”

“You have no fucking idea how much I know,” said Sam, snorting. “Dean used to do that to me all the time. Before he and Cas got all… whatever they are.”

“In love?” asked Alicia, looking at where Cas and Dean were sitting across from Eileen and laughing. “If they’re not, don’t tell Alfie. He thinks those two are the best thing since sliced bread.”

“Do you think Alfie thinks of Cas as like a father figure, or is it a straight up crush?” asked Sam. Alicia shook her head. “I go back and forth.”

“We don’t ask. We’re gritty police officers who drink coffee black and then solve cases in silence,” she said seriously, before cracking a smile. “I think Alfie just wants to be Cas when he grows up. It’s kinda cute. Like when a five year old sees a fireman.”

Alfie at the moment was onstage with Hannah, and the two of them were singing something sappy together. Sam watched for a second before considering going back to where Dean, Cas, and Eileen were sitting.

“You know, Jenna will be back in a second,” said Alicia. “You don’t need to keep me company.”

“Just don’t really feel like going back to Law Enforcement Central over there,” said Sam. “Police codes aren’t really my thing, but Eileen’s entertained and I don’t really want to ruin their fun.”

“You hang out with us all day, does shop talk bother you that much?” asked Alicia curiously.

“My dad used to drill Dean about that kind of stuff all the time and I was kind of… I was jealous about it. But I never wanted to be a police officer, so that was always just their thing.”

“Huh,” said Alicia. “I was felt the same way about my mom and Max. Always writing, and sticking their noses in books while I was off punching little boys and girls on the playground.”

“You?” Sam asked, looking at the composed Alicia standing before him.

“I had a lot of energy as a kid, don’t look at me like that,” said Alicia. “As I was saying, it bugged me at first that Mom and Max had this thing that I would never get to have because I just wasn’t into it the same way they were, but eventually I realized that… I’m pretty cool the way I am, you know? And they don’t love me any less for it. And just because Max and I are twins doesn’t mean we have to be the same person. So I made my peace with it and I’m happier now. If you were looking for advice, which you probably weren’t.”

“No worries. And yeah, that makes sense,” said Sam. “So you and Max just do your own thing, then?”

“Not really,” said Alicia. “I might let a few inside tips slip to him about news stories he’s working on. And he might help out with some of my case work. Don’t spread that around, though."

"My lips are sealed," said Sam. Alicia nodded.

"Max usually doesn’t get this involved in a case, but I texted him a picture of Dean and that gas guzzling car you two drive around and he immediately wanted in.”

“You didn’t mention Cas?” asked Sam, confused.

“And lose the opportunity to see Max’s face when he got turned down by a hot psychic?” asked Alicia. “I love him, but he is unbearably smug sometimes. I need my little victories.”

Jenna got back around then, and Sam let the two partners get back to trying to drink each other under the table. He made his way back over to the table and sat next to Eileen, who had switched topics and was now in the middle of a carefully edited (for Cas’ sake, since he didn’t know about the whole CIA thing) story about something that had happened to her on her last mission. She got to the punchline just as Sam sat down.

“I miss anything?” asked Sam.

“Eileen was telling us about what she does,” said Cas. “I’m still fuzzy on the details-“

“So nothing much then,” said Sam before Cas could go further down that line of thought. “I was talking to Alicia. Apparently Max hit it off with Benny. I didn’t know Benny liked guys.”

“Sam,” said Dean slowly. “Have you not noticed that Charlie has in the past frequently hit on the girls here? Without taking a lot of time to feel them out first, most of the time? And that no one says anything when I kiss Cas here, ever?”

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with…” Sam stopped for a moment as he reconsidered a lot of things. “Is this a gay bar?”

“No,” said Dean. “Well, sorta. It’s more like a lot of the regulars know Benny’s bi and that homophobes aren’t welcome here. Don’t feel bad about missing it, I am the smart brother. And the attractive brother. Really I’m just a package deal, isn’t that right Cas?”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening,” said Cas. Sam grinned and caught the touch of a smile on Cas’ face before he went back to looking bored. Dean looked vaguely horrified at the two of them. “But probably not.”

“They’re teaming up on me,” he said, signing as well as speaking for Eileen’s benefit. “See what I mean Eileen? This could be us, but you won’t play along.”

“I think,” said Eileen after a few seconds of deep thought in which Dean was obviously hoping for a fucking break. “That Sam is the brother with a heart of gold.”

Sam felt his stomach flip and he couldn’t help smiling dopily at his future wife for a few seconds.

“I think that you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met,” he signed at her. He held up the sign for ‘I love you’ and then leaned in for a kiss, ignoring Dean making grossed out noises.

“I’m outnumbered,” Dean said hopelessly. “Cas, you can’t just leave me to the wolves like this.”

“Remember that thing you said about handcuffs yesterday?” said Cas. “Payback is, as they say, a bitch.”

“Yeah, whatever. Laugh it up, you three,” said Dean sounding incredibly put out. “Just remember, none of you would have even met each other if it weren’t for me. So you better be grateful.”

Sam considered that for a second, and realized just how true it was. Whatever issues he had with the past, it had led to everything he had now, and what he had now was pretty good. Much better than winning a spelling bee.

“I am grateful,” said Sam. He took Eileen’s hand and smiled when she leaned into his side. He looked down directly into her eyes. “I’ll always be grateful for Eileen.”

“Remember that tomorrow when I have morning breath,” said Eileen.

“You two are officially gross,” said Dean. “We’re leaving now. Hanging out with you two is like drinking sugar straight. See you later. C’mon Cas.”

Cas was dragged from the booth and followed behind Dean without putting up a fight. He spared a wave for Sam and Eileen before leaving and then seemed to happily follow Dean out of the bar.

“He’s so drunk isn’t he?” Eileen commented about Cas.

“So drunk,” Sam agreed.

*********

Convincing Cas that sleeping was a better idea than making out wasn’t easy. Not least of all because Dean was convincing himself along with Cas every time.

“Bedtime,” Dean tried for the fifth time.

“Not yet,” said Cas, who was still a little drunk from the shots he’d taken earlier in the night. “I love you and this is wonderful.”

“You don’t need to say you love me every two seconds,” said Dean. “I get it.”

“Do you?” asked Cas, suddenly way too serious. The drunk kind of serious where he could burst into laughter at any second and that would be equally in character. “I mean it. I promise that I mean it.”

Dean shouldn’t have been surprised that Cas was having a minor break down about their conversation about moving in. He’d hoped pretending that he didn’t remember it would act as a kind of reset, because that was not how he wanted to have the ‘moving in’ conversation with Cas (and he’d been getting around to it, damnit Charlie). But he’d been tired and not thinking about what he was saying and he hadn’t meant to say what he had.

“I know you do,” said Dean, but Cas wasn’t convinced. He sighed and moved away from Dean a little before sitting up.

“I’m not ashamed of you and I don’t have commitment issues,” he said. “No matter what Charlie says. I’m just… When I was with Meg admitting that you cared about something was a weakness to pounce on later when we fought. We both did that so much that eventually the only thing we talked about was what bothered us about each other. I don’t know how to turn that off.”

“Cas, if you wanted to move in with me, you just should have said something,” said Dean. And God, did that close Cas off faster than anything. “I was just tired and pissed off that you were putting everything on me for our fucking relationship. I didn’t mean for you to get all-“

“I’m sorry for the way I handled that conversation. I was hoping you hadn’t remembered.”

“Hey, wait a second, don’t-“ Dean started, but Cas was already turning away from him and Jesus Christ. “Cas!”

“I thought you wanted to go to sleep. Let’s go to sleep,” said Cas.

“You are such a- You wanna know what? Let’s move into together. Hell, let’s go a step further,” said Dean. Cas didn’t turn around, so Dean knocked his arm a little and got a pissed off glare in return. “You paying attention, bastard?”

“Yes,” muttered Cas. Dean dug his hand into his jeans and pulled out the ring his dad had given him and then put on his most spiteful smile. Cas’ eyes fell to what was in Dean’s hands and all comprehension left his expression.

“Wanna get married then, asshole?”

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the second to last thing I'm going to write in this series. I don't know when the next one is going to be out, but I promise no more cliff hangers after this.
> 
> Let me know if you liked!


End file.
